Baby carrier

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a baby carrier having a seat disposed at an upper portion of a walking assistance robot such that the weight of a baby is supported by the floor while being distributed through the walking assistance robot, thereby significantly reducing a fatigue of a user generated when a baby is held in arms or carried on a back of the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Applications No. 2013-0117894, filed on Oct. 2, 2013 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Example embodiments relate to a walking assistance robot including a baby carrier configured to carry a baby.

2. Description of the Related Art

A baby carrier is designed to enable a user to move with a baby held in arms of the user or carried on a back of the user, and allows the baby's body to come into close contact with the user's body, thereby facilitating holding or carrying the baby.

A baby carrier may include a waist mounted part that is mounted on the waist of a user and a seat connected to a front side of the waist mounted part to have a baby seated thereon. The baby carrier includes various types of baby carriers, for example, a carrier allowing a user to hold a baby in arms, or a carrier having a form of a backpack allowing a user to carry a baby on the back of the user.

However, such a conventional carrier leads to the weight of a baby being applied to the waist or shoulder of a user, which may cause fatigue for the user after long use.

SUMMARY

Therefore, one or more example embodiments are directed to a baby carrier for reducing fatigue of a user in the use of the baby carrier by distributing the weight of a baby applied to the user.

Additional aspects of example embodiments will be set forth in part in the description which follows.

In some example embodiments, a baby carrier may include a walking assistance robot and a seat. The walking assistance robot may assist a user in walking. The seat may be configured to mount to the walking assistance robot and to support at least a portion of a weight of an object placed thereon.

The seat may be detachably coupled to the walking assistance robot.

The seat may be configured to support a human baby. The seat may be disposed at an upper front side of the walking assistance robot such that, when the baby is placed on the seat, the baby is laterally supported by a chest of the user.

The seat may be disposed at an upper rear side of the walking assistance robot such that, when the baby is placed on the seat, the baby is carried on a back of the user.

The walking assistance robot may include a pair of footstools corresponding to feet of the user, a pair of lower legs corresponding to lower legs of the user and having lower ends rotatably connected to the pair of footstools, respectively, a pair of upper legs corresponding to upper legs of the user and having lower ends connected to upper ends of the lower legs of the walking assistance robot, respectively, so as to be individually rotated, and a waist mounted part mounted on a waist of the user and to which upper portions of the upper legs of the walking assistance robot are connected, respectively, so as to be individually rotated, wherein the seat may be disposed on the waist mounted part.

The walking assistance robot may include a lower leg mount on the lower leg of the walking assistance robot, the lower leg mounts configured to attach onto on the lower leg of the user, and an upper leg mounted part on the upper leg of the walking assistance robot, the upper leg mounts configured to attach to the upper leg of the user.

In some example embodiments, a baby carrier may include a pair of footstools, a pair of lower legs, a pair of upper legs, a waist mounted part and a seat. The pair of footstools may correspond to feet of a user. The pair of lower legs may correspond to lower legs of the user, and have lower ends rotatably connected to the pair of footstools, respectively. The pair of upper legs may correspond to upper legs of the user, and have lower ends connected to upper ends of the lower legs of the walking assistance robot, respectively, so as to be individually rotated. The waist mounted part may be mounted on a waist of the user and to which upper portions of the upper legs of the walking assistance robot are connected, respectively, so as to be individually rotated. A seat may be configured to mount onto the waist mounted and to support at least a portion of a weight of a baby placed thereon.

The lower leg of the baby carrier may include a lower leg mounted part that is mounted on a lower leg of the user. The upper leg of the baby carrier may include an upper leg mounted part that is mounted on a upper leg of the user.

The seat may be separately coupled to the waist mounted part.

The seat may be disposed at an upper front side of the waist mounted part such that, when the baby is placed on the seat, the baby is laterally supported by a chest of the user.

The seat may be disposed at an upper rear side of the waist mounted part such that, when the baby is placed on the seat, the baby is carried on a back of the user.

The baby carrier may be provided with the seat disposed at an upper portion of the walking assistance robot, so that the weight of a baby carried on the seat is distributed through the walking assistance robot and supported by the floor, thereby reducing a fatigue of a user while the user carries the baby for a long period of time.

The baby carrier may further include a controller configured to control an operation of the walking assistance robot, a driving apparatus configured to generate power to operate the walking assistance robot, and a sensor configured to sense the weight of a baby placed on the seat.

The controller controls the driving apparatus to generate power corresponding to the weight of the baby that is sensed by the sensor.

The baby carrier may further include an output apparatus configured to provide a user with information. The controller may control the output apparatus such that the user is informed of the weight of the baby sensed by the sensor through the output apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of example embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a baby carrier in accordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a baby carrier having a seat that is detachable from a walking assistance robot in accordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram showing an operation of a baby carrier in accordance with example embodiments; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a baby carrier in accordance with other example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to example embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Detailed illustrative embodiments are disclosed herein. However, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely representative for purposes of describing example embodiments. Example embodiments may be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to only those set forth herein.

It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit this disclosure to the particular example embodiments disclosed. On the contrary, example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the example embodiments. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description of the figures.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of this disclosure. As used herein, the term “and/or,” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected,” or “coupled,” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected,” or “directly coupled,” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between,” versus “directly between,” “adjacent,” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

Various example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which some example embodiments are shown. In the drawings, the thicknesses of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a baby carrier in accordance with example embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 1, a baby carrier in accordance with some example embodiments may include a seat 10 allowing a baby to be placed thereon, and a walking assistance robot 20 configured to be put on a lower body of a user to assist the user in walking. The seat 10 may be disposed at an upper portion of the walking assistance robot 20. However, example embodiments are not limited thereto. For example, the position of the seat 10 may be adjustable.

The walking assistance robot 20 enables a user to more easily walk by supplementing the muscular strength and the weight of the user, or increasing the muscular strength of the user who carries a heavy weighted substance.

The walking assistance robot 20 includes a pair of footstools 21 corresponding to feet of a user, a pair of lower legs 22 corresponding to lower legs of the user, and a pair of upper legs 23 corresponding to upper legs of the user, respectively. A waist mounted part 24 configured to be mounted on the waist of the user is provided at an upper portion of the upper legs 23.

The pair of footstools 21 is mounted on the feet of the user to assist motion of the user's foot while being supported by the floor.

The pair of lower legs 22 vertically extends in correspondence with the lower legs of the user, respectively, and have lower ends rotatably connected to the footstools 21, respectively. For example, the lower legs 22 may be connected to the footstools 21 by various joints, such as a ball joint include a bearing having a ball or roller to allow the footstools 21 to rotate in various directions in accordance with movement of the ankles of the user. The lower legs 22 are provided with lower leg mounted parts 22 a, respectively, mounted to surround the lower legs of the user, such that the lower legs 22 of the walking assistance robot 20 assist motion of the user's lower legs, respectively.

The pair of upper legs 23 vertically extends in correspondence with the upper legs of the user, respectively, and have lower ends rotatably connected to upper ends of the lower legs 22, respectively. A joint between the lower legs 22 and the upper legs 23 may mimic the range of movement of the user's knee. The upper legs 23 are provided with upper leg mounted parts 23 a, respectively, mounted to surround the upper legs of the user, such that the upper legs 23 of the walking assistance robot 20 assist motion of the user's upper legs, respectively.

The waist mounted part 24 has upper ends of the upper legs 23 rotatably connected thereto, respectively, to be mounted on a waist of the user. The waist mounted part 24 may be provided at an inside thereof with a battery (not shown) and a driving apparatus (see FIG. 3) to operate the walking assistance robot 20.

In addition, a driving part, for example, an actuator, (not shown) configured to rotate the footstool 21, the lower leg 22 and the upper leg 23 by receiving power from the driving apparatus 32 may be accommodated in a connecting part between the footstool 21 and the lower leg 22, a connecting part between the lower leg 22 and the upper leg 23, and a connecting part between the upper leg 23 and the waist mounted part 24.

The driving apparatus may include a processor and a memory.

The processor may be a controller and an arithmetic logic unit, a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable array, a programmable logic unit, a microprocessor or any other device capable of responding to and executing instructions in a defined manner. The memory may contain instructions that, when executed by the processor, program the processor with instructions that configure the processing device as a special purpose computer configured to instruct the driving part to move, thus, providing assistance to the user when the user is performing a walking operation. Further, the processor may determine a terrain and pace of walking to further assist the user. Further, the processor may vary the amount of assistance based on whether there is a baby in the seat 10. Therefore, the seat 10 may include a sensor to sense when the baby is present.

The seat 10 may be disposed at an upper front side of the walking assistance robot 20, that is, a front side of the waist mounted part 24, such that a user may move while holding a baby in the user's arms by having some of the weight of the baby supported by the seat 10.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a baby carrier having a seat that is detachable from a walking assistance robot in accordance with example embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 2, the walking assistance robot 20 may be detachably coupled to the waist mounted part 24.

Accordingly, a user may use the walking assistance robot 20 alone by separating the seat 10 from the walking assistance robot 20 when there is no need to move while holding a baby in the user' arms. If there is a need for the user to move while holding a baby in the user's arms, the user may couple the seat 10 to the waist mounted part 24 of the walking assistance robot 20 and have the baby sit on the seat 10 to move.

As described above, the baby carrier is provided with the seat 10. The seat 10 may be disposed at an upper portion of the walking assistance robot 20, so that the weight of a baby is distributed through the waist mounted part 24, the upper legs 23, the lower legs 22 and the footstools 21 forming the walking assistance robot 20, and supported by the floor, thereby significantly reducing a fatigue of a user generated while the user holds the baby in the user's arms.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram showing an operation of a baby carrier in accordance with some example embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 3, the baby carrier may include a controller 30 to control an operation of the walking assistance robot 20, a sensor 31 to sense the weight of a baby placed on the seat 10, the driving apparatus 32 to generate power required to operate the walking assistance robot 20, and an output apparatus 33 to provide a user with various pieces of information related to an operation of the walking assistance robot 20.

Accordingly, when a user allows a baby to be placed on the seat 10, the weight of the baby placed on the seat 10 may be sensed by the sensor 31 and delivered to the controller 30, and the controller 30 may control the driving apparatus 32 to generate power corresponding to the weight of the baby.

In addition, the controller 30 may control the output apparatus 33 such that the user is informed of the weight of the baby sensed by the sensor 31 through the output apparatus 33. The output apparatus 33 may include a speaker and a screen display apparatus.

Although the seat 10 in accordance with some example embodiments is illustrated as being installed at a front side of the waist mounted part 24 of the walking assistance robot 20 such that a user may move while holding a baby in the user's arms, example embodiments are not limited thereto.

Further, the seat 10 may be mounted to the waist mounted part 24 via one or more springs that are configured as shock absorbs to reduce an amount of vibration provided to the baby when the user walks.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a baby carrier in accordance with other example embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 4, a seat 10 having a shape of a backpack may be mounted at an upper rear side of the walking assistance robot 20, that is, a rear side of the waist mounted part 24 such that a user may move while carrying a baby on the back of the user.

By carrying the baby of the back of the user, the weight of the baby may be distributed through the walking assistance robot 20 in addition to the shoulders of the user, and supported by the floor, thereby significantly reducing a fatigue of a user generated while the user carries the baby on the user's back for a long period of time.

Although a few example embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. For example, while example embodiments have been described with respect to carrying a human baby, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that example embodiments may be directed toward a seat configured to support a weight of various objects, such as, for example groceries and/or a pet. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A carrier comprising: a walking assistance robot configured to assist a user in walking; and a seat configured to mount to the walking assistance robot and to support at least a portion of a weight of an object placed thereon.
 2. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the seat is detachably coupled to the walking assistance robot.
 3. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the seat is configured to support a human baby, and the seat is disposed at an upper front side of the walking assistance robot such that, when the baby is placed on the seat, the baby is laterally supported by a chest of the user.
 4. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the seat is configured to support a human baby, and the seat is disposed at an upper rear side of the walking assistance robot such that, when the baby is placed on the seat, the baby is carried on a back of the user.
 5. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the walking assistance robot comprises: a pair of footstools corresponding to feet of the user; a pair of lower legs corresponding to lower legs of the user, the pair of lower legs having lower ends rotatably connected to the pair of footstools, respectively, a pair of upper legs corresponding to upper legs of the user, the pair of upper legs having lower ends connected to upper ends of the lower legs of the walking assistance robot, respectively, such that the pair of upper legs are individually rotatable with respect to the lower legs, and a waist mount configured to mount on a waist of the user, the waist mount rotatably connected to upper portions of the upper legs such that the upper legs are individually rotatable with respect to the waist mount, wherein the seat is configured to mount to the waist mount.
 6. The carrier of claim 5, wherein the walking assistance robot further comprises: a lower leg mount on the lower leg of the walking assistance robot, the lower leg mounts configured to attach onto the lower leg of the user; and an upper leg mount on the upper leg of the walking assistance robot, the upper leg mounts configured to attach onto the upper leg of the user.
 7. A baby carrier comprising: a pair of footstools corresponding to feet of a user; a pair of lower legs corresponding to lower legs of the user, the pair of lower legs having lower ends rotatably connected to the pair of footstools, respectively; a pair of upper legs corresponding to upper legs of the user, the pair of upper legs having lower ends connected to upper ends of the lower legs of the walking assistance robot, respectively, such that the pair of upper legs are individually rotatable with respect to the lower legs; a waist mount configured to mount on a waist of the user, the waist mount rotatably connected to upper portions of the upper legs such that the pair of upper legs are individually rotatable with respect to the waist mount; and a seat configured to mount onto the waist mounted and to support at least a portion of a weight of a baby placed thereon.
 8. The baby carrier of claim 7, wherein: the lower leg of the baby carrier includes a lower leg mount, the lower leg mount configured to attach onto a lower leg of the user; and the upper leg of the baby carrier includes a upper leg mount, the upper leg mount configured to attach onto an upper leg of the user.
 9. The baby carrier of claim 7, wherein the seat is detachably coupled to the waist mounted part.
 10. The baby carrier of claim 7, wherein the seat is disposed at an upper front side of the waist mounted part such that, when the baby is placed on the seat, the baby is laterally supported by a chest of the user.
 11. The baby carrier of claim 7, wherein the seat is disposed at an upper rear side of the waist mounted part such that, when the baby is placed on the seat, the baby is carried on a back of the user.
 12. The baby carrier of claim 7, further comprising: a controller configured to control an operation of the walking assistance robot; a driving apparatus configured to generate power to operate the walking assistance robot, and a sensor configured to sense the weight of a baby placed on the seat.
 13. The baby carrier of claim 12, wherein the controller controls the driving apparatus to generate power corresponding to the weight of the baby that is sensed by the sensor.
 14. The baby carrier of clam 12, further comprising: an output apparatus configured to provide a user with information, wherein the controller is configured to control the output apparatus such that the user is informed of the weight of the baby sensed by the sensor through the output apparatus. 